Improvement in treadles for sewing-machines



JOHN B. WINSLOWQ' lmprovement in Tr'eadles "for Sewing Machines.

No. 121,976, i Patented Dec 19,1si1.

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Improvement in Treadles for Sewing Machines.

NO. 121,976. Patented Dec.19,1871.

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Improvement in Treadles for Sewing Machines.

NO. 321,976. Patented Dec. 19,1871.

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JOHN B. WINSLOW, OF CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN TREADLES FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 121,976, dated December 19, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN B. WnvsLow, of Charlestown, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements on Treadles for Sewing-Machines and other machines, such as foot-lathes, circular and jig saws, &c., of which the following is a specification:

The nature of my invention relates to certain improvements on treadles for sewing and other machines, consisting of a treadle-lever that operates a reciprocating jointed pawl by means of a cog-segment attached to the treadle-lever and a pinion attached to the jointed pawl, the said pawl being made to operate on the inside or outside of a drum or on the hub of such a drum for the purpose of starting the circular motion of the drum and shaft at any point of the stroke, and also for the purpose of driving the drum and shaft evenly at any desired velocity, either fast or slow, as may be needed, without having any dead-center to overcome, as is the case where a connecting-rod .is applied directly to a crank from a treadle, as will now be fully shown and described.

On the drawing, Figure 1 represents a front view of my invention. Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal section taken over the line A B on Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a cross-section over the broken line C D, also taken on Fig. 1. Fig. 4 represents a side view of the drum and jointed pawl.

Similar letters refer to similar parts wherever they occur on the drawing.

The great objection to driving sewing-machines and other light machinery by means of the oldfashioned crank and connecting-rod has been that the machine thus driven could not be started at any point of the stroke, as two dead-centers exist on a single crank, and the operator was therefore obliged to turn the fly-wheel part of a revolution to be able to set the machine in n10- tion; also, that a machine driven by said crank and connecting-rod could not .be run very slow, as it would in such a case invariably stop on one of the dead-centers, owing to the friction of the movable parts in their bearings retarding the motion in a manner as is well known to operators of such machines. When a shaft is driven by means of a crank and connectingrod attached to a treadle only one revolution is obtained for the shaft during the whole stroke of the treadle; and to remove these objections is the purpose of my invention; wherefore I construct my treadle motion in the following manner:

a is the shaft to which the motion is carried from the treadle. 0n the driving-shaft a is the fly-wheel 11, secured in the usual way. The shaft a is movable in bearings c c suspended from the table (1, if the machine is a sewing-machine or similar machine where such an arrangement is practical. To the driving-shaft a is securedkeyed or otherwisea drum, 6, as shown on Fig. 3. The drum 0 is provided with a circular groove, f f, on each side. On each side of the drum 0 are the pinions g h, movable loose on the shaft (1, and operated by means of the cog-segments 4; and k, as shown on Fig. 2. The cog-segment i is attached to or made in onepiece with a treadle-lever, l, by which arrangement the segment 2' and pinion g are operated. A similar treadle-lever, m, is attached to the cog-segment 7c in a similar way, and for the purpose of operating the segment is and pinion h. The cog-segments i 70 and treadle-levers l m are made to rock around the shaft n, as shown. The shaft n is hung in bearings 0 0 suspended from the table d. The bearings c o c o are united together by the cross-braces p p, by which arrangement the cog-segments i and 7c are kept so as to work properly in the pinions g h. The pinion ghas an arm, q, cast on one side, as shown, to which is attached the movable jointed pawl r by means of the screw or pin 8, around which the pawl 1' is movable. The pawl r is made in such a manner that the corner t of the same lies in contact with the inside circumference of the groove f, and recedes from the point t to the other corner u in a manner as shown in a View on Fig. 4. The object of this is to make the corner t of the pawl r bind against the inside circumference of the groove f when the pinion g is moved in the direction as indicated by the arrow on Fig. 4, and. to let the pawl 1" pass freely backward when the pinion g is moved in the opposite direction. A light spring, 4), is attached to the outer end of the pawl r, and rests with its other end on the hub of the pinion g, as shown on Fig. 4. The object of the spring '12 is to keep the pawl r in a proper position when it (the pawl r) is drawn backward. A similar arrangement, q r s, is had from the pinion h to the groove f for the purpose of operating the right-hand side of drum c. On Fig. 4 is shown that the distance from s to tis larger than the distance from s to the nearest point t on the inside of the circular groove f, and the pawl 1- must consequently bind against the circumference of the groove f as soon as the pinion g is moved in the direction of the arrow on Fig. 4.

The operation of my invention is as follows: The operator places his feet on the treadles l and m, and by pushing said treadle-levers from him the segments i and k are raised upward, thereby imparting a motion to the pinions g and h in a direction as indicated by the arrows on Fig. 2, when the jointed pawls r W are made to press against the inside of the drum e and thereby put the said drum 0 in motion in a direction as shown by the arrow on Fig. 2. When the treadlelevers are drawn backward the pawls 1' 7 release their hold on the drum 6, that continues its motion in the same direction.

Both levers I m may be operated together or independently from each other, as may be desired; and from this will be seen that the driving-shaft a. can be started at any point of the stroke, and that a slow and positive motion can be given to the shaft a, as may be needed when embroidery is to be done on a sewing-machine.

I do not confine myself to an upright position of the levers l m, as I can to advantage arrange them in any suitable position, according to the machine I wish to operate.

Having thus described the nature, construc tion, and operation of my invention, I wish to secure by Letters Patent, and cl aim- The arrangement of one or more treadle-levers Z, made in one piece with the cog-segmenti rocking around the fulcrum n and operating the pinion g and jointed pawl either on the inside or outside of a smooth drum, 6, as and for the purpose set forth.

JOHN B. WIN SLOW.

Witn esses ALBAN ANDREN,

WM. H. HUTCHINSON. (134) 

